Risk management steps up as insurance market tightens

Risk professionals are being asked to step up as their organisations face increasing insurance premiums and the need for greater risk management. New associations are emerging and new alliances developing as risk managers increase their professionalism. Insurers across the continent report imposing tougher terms and conditions, saying they are asking for evidence of better risk-managed businesses. Those firms unable to evidence strong risk management approaches can expect rising premiums and even the spectre of no available insurers, warn the insurers. In response, risk managers are looking to improve their professionalism and their connections. In Botswana, a group of risk managers have met in the wake of Commercial Risk Africa’s Risk Frontiers Southern Africa ‘Roadmap to Success’ one-day event in Gaborone. They have elected a committee to form a Botswana chapter of the Institute of Risk Management (IRM) and will be meeting again shortly to progress the chapter. It will be an independent chapter but follows the development of the South Africa chapter, headed by Zanele Makhubu, who spoke at the Risk Frontiers event, stressing the need for greater professionalism among risk managers. “Risk managers need a series of skills,” she said. These include: Technical knowledge: Risk management frameworks and processes, standards and techniques Sector knowledge: Context and best practice risk management in your sector Professional knowledge: How other business functions operate and how risk management interacts with them Organisational knowledge: How your own organisation works and its culture Self-knowledge: Communication skills, influencing, negotiating and questioning. She added: “We need to have these engagements across Africa. We need to share knowledge and increase professionalism among risk managers. “We have massive challenges – things like climate change but also changes to our organisations. We need to share best practice and develop good initiatives to help us all deal with these challenges.” The IRM already has chapters in South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. “It is critical we have chapters across Africa,” said Ms Makhubu. “Looking at globalisation and new developments, which seem to appear every hour, we need to develop continent-wide best practice. “As risk professionals we need to up our game, educationally and professionally.” Delighted that Botswana is to open a chapter, Ms Makhubu said it would be run independently but the chapters elsewhere in the continent would be on hand to offer advice and support. The Botswana chapter will be meeting shortly to work on projects for the year ahead, including meetings and possibly special events. IRM groups are designed to provide a forum for members from a diverse range of organisations, risk disciplines and sectors to network, exchange views and share best practice with peers locally and internationally. They also aim to develop member knowledge as well as to encourage discussion and add value to the risk profession. Beyond that, said Ms Makhubu, the group should help to expand the boundaries of risk management thinking and encourage growth in the IRM’s community. Meanwhile in Nigeria, the IRM recently accredited Risk Management Consulting Limited (RMCIR) as the first licensed Fundamentals of Risk Management (FoRM) training provider in Nigeria. Sanjay Himatsingani, director of training at the IRM, said: “We are very pleased to be working with RMCIR to deliver this course in Nigeria. “We are delighted that students in Nigeria will now have the opportunity to increase their risk management knowledge, accessing the FoRM course locally through an approved, quality training provider.” Also in Nigeria, the Association of Enterprise Risk Management Professionals (AERMP) and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria have signed their own memorandum of understanding (MOU) to strengthen risk management across the financial sector. Taiwo Silifat Ige, president of AERMP, said: “The MOU aims to enhance the capacity and shore up the competence of the professionals, students and all practitioners in the financial and non-financial sectors of the economy, by jointly developing and running a series of workshops, training and seminars on the subject of enterprise risk management.” Added to that, the two associations have agreed to collaborate on e-learning. Ms Ige said: “This is designed to fill the current gap in knowledge dissemination, which is mainly class-based and physical. Modern reality has shown that virtual learning has become an indispensable and complementary tool to the regular learning model.” To fast-track the implementation of this innovative initiative, the CIBN has deployed an electronic learning portal. The platform is specifically designed with the intent of enhancing learning, development and capacity building.

Risk management steps up as insurance market tightens

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